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A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it.***After more than 18 months of delays, Sweden’s bid to join the NATO alliance was finally approved last week. Sweden and Finland were both invited to join NATO after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but while Finland became part of the alliance last year, opposition from Turkey and Hungary held up Sweden’s approval. We asked five experts to tell us more about what the two Nordic countries will bring to the alliance and how Russia might respond to NATO enlargement.Read more below. Heli Hautala Adjunct Senior Fellow Transatlantic Security Program Center for a New American SecurityIn northern Europe, one cannot talk about security without talking about Russia. Proof: It was Russia that caused Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership and join the alliance at an astonishing speed. With all Nordics in NATO, the alliance needs to think of northern Europe as one area of operation. There used to be NATO’s Arctic and NATO’s Baltic and a big gap in between. With the addition of two strategically located, militarily strong, and resilient democracies, the geography and capabilities of European defense will change significantly in NATO’s favor. Russia keeps repeating its standard warning about military-technical measures that it will take as a response to NATO’s northern enlargement. For now, it is in no position to strengthen its military presence along NATO’s new northern flank, but the groundwork is being done. One demonstration is the recent reorganization of military districts facing NATO’s eastern flank. Minna Ålander Research Fellow, Finnish Institute of International Affairs Non-resident Fellow, Center for European Policy AnalysisNATO is